Glide Path

Although last Tuesday's surgery to insert stents got Diane's kidneys percolating again and lowered her blood pressure, pain and nausea became increasingly difficult to control. This culminated Thursday night when on returning home from work I found her listless and confused. Valarie arrived to help and we decided to book Diane first class by ambulance to ER. We were met at the hospital by her oncologist Dr. Rushing and, with the help of a great ER doc, through the course of the night determined that she has some sort of a bowel obstruction. She was admitted as an inpatient with a plan to try and get her cleaned out.

The plan got more complicated however when she began to throw up early Friday morning. That removed the option of treating this from above with medications and fluids. So this is where we are: They have not given up trying to resolve the frozen bowels. A procedure will take place this morning to try and "restart her engines". We wait 24 hours to see if it works. If it does not they will insert a tube into her stomach so that acid and fluids can drain and not nauseate her. At the same time they will insert a tube into her right lung so that fluid will not build up and cause her more pain and breathlessness. We are told these are both very portable, painless devices.

The bigger picture is that the chemotherapy agent Doxil is not doing the trick. The cancer is advancing. Dr. Rushing will not administer another chemotherapy drug unless her bowels are working. However even if they do start functioning the next drugs have a 12% to 15% chance of having some effect. Even then the effect would be largely marginal. Remission is no longer in the picture with mainstream ovarian cancer treatment.

As a family we have done some research on alternative therapies and we just do not want to go there. You all know Diane. She has a clear, strong sense of how life is to be lived. This is not it. So while we are still holding out hope that she can turn all this around (and would not put it past her to do so) we are preparing to bring her home and for hospice care. She is so brave.

For those of you who wish to see her, you are all welcome. Please stay in touch so that can coordinate with and make the most of each visit.

Jeff